Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

This is their website: http://www.autoaccents.com/index.htm
I personally never dealt with them, but my good friend lives near the shop and he said that they seemed overpriced.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Like I said, you could slightly bend the contacts down so that they make better contact. That is what I did to narrow it down. My power steering failed so often that I knew if I could go a whole week without losing power steering, I found what was causing the issue. Might be best to try it out before cutting-up your wires. Or if its still under warranty and bending the contacts helped, take it to the dealer and tell them what you did to correct it. They should replace the wire harness under warranty.
Chances are your dealership never heard of this problem. Last time I took my car in to the dealer, one of the Techs pulled me back to the garage area so that he could question me as to why I decided to splice those cables.
Good luck!

tony_673

It's almost time for me to wake up the RX8 from it's winter hibernation and I thought I'd pass along some info on a future event that I'll be attending.

On April 18th, I'll be attending the Nelson Ledges Fun Days Test and Tune. This is the first time I've attended such an event, but from what I gather you get to run on the Nelson Ledges track in 20-30 minute sessions for the whole day. More info can be found at www.nelsonledges.com

The cost is $120 and you'll need a helmet if you want to run on the track. I believe it's only $5 if you want to spectate. It looks like a lot of fun, and I hope to see you guys there.

newgatorx8er

New owner, live in Broadview Hts. Work in Lyndhurst. I271 will never be the same!

tony_673

Welcome to the club!

Be careful on I-271! I'm not sure if you're aware, but the police have a very high presence over there. The new RX8 is fun.....until the insurance goes up to $300/mo.

newgatorx8er

I bought the 40 anniv fr Bedford Mazda. Most excited about a car I've ever been in my life. I've driven pickups for the last 20 yrs. Biggest prob so far has been remembering how to drive a stick.........been about 20yrs for that too....lol. Hope this thing has strong clutches.....

Doc

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Yea....271 is really not much fun. Nelson Ledges sounds like fun...too bad I can't fit in my car with a hemlet.

tony_673

That seems to be a common issue with the RX8. There's quite a few threads on the forum about people's experiences with that problem (including one by me!)

I'm not sure how tall you are, but with some fine tuning of the seat adjustments and the removal of those air vent thingies on the top of my helmet that I thought looked just so bitchen, I was able to squeeze into the car. I've got the sunroof too.

If all else fails, you could always fabricate seat mounting brackets that sit lower. You certainly wouldn't be the first person to do it. (I'm not one of those people, in case you were wondering.)

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I just got my car out of hibernation today. I finally got rid of the wimpy Mazda battery and bought the Optima Red-top from Summit Racing
My friend takes his Trans-Am up to Nelson Ledges and he has been bugging me to go. I might make an appearance... but no promises.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Well...I'm 6'4...my head tends to hit the ceiling on bumps in just a baseball hat so I can't imagine a helmet making it without me laying down. Although...the idea of lowering the seat might be an option to think about this summer.

Machiavelli

You'll need to watch Bedford Mazda like a hawk when it comes to any service/maintenance. Don't fall for the "Mazda 5,000 mile service" bit. It's a Mazda of Bedford creation. For about $100 you get an oil change and a promise of a tire rotation that - at least with me - they never bother to actually perform.

But I'm not bitter or anything.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Yea...and after my experience at Classic Mazda it looks like I will be headed to Cuyahoga Falls for all maintenance.

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Actually, I'm really disappointed in them as a dealership. I love the car. But after spending $30K, I have yet to receive a followup phone call, letter, anything. I received letters from other dealerships for other cars saying that they wish me well with my new car even though I didn't buy from them.

Followup care with a good customer is critical. I will be looking to other places for service. Have any recommendations? Anybody worked with Cascade Mazda?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Yup... thats what DeViLbOi was pointing out is in Cuyahoga Falls.
We've discussed in this thread about local dealers and I (along with others) have written about our experience with Cascade Mazda. Its a long discussion with examples, so look back on previous posts and you'll read that Cascade is a good dealer (one of the best locally that I can tell).

tony_673

Uuughh! Thanks for the reminder that I need to pick up a freakin' battery too. How much did the Optima cost you? I was considering one, but I heard that they weigh more than a stock battery

BTW, who the hell decided to put a Panasonic battery in the RX8?? Panasonic is for cameras, not $30,000 cars.

Anyhow, you'd better make a showing! I don't want to be the only one from here that's going to pay $120 to embarass themselves.

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

I'm planning on coming out in the afternoon to watch. Need a copilot? I won't need to modify a helmet to fit....no hair to hold it up....lol

tony_673

So not only do I get to embarass myself in front of other drivers, but now I have to personally demonstrate my terrible driving skills up close? No problem. It would be a pleasure.

So far, though, my wife is signed up to ride shotgun (we're going to buy her a helmet this week), but I'm sure she wouldn't mind sitting out for a session as long as the weather isn't poopy, so you could hop in. Plus it would allow her to get some good film footage to further display my total lack of talent .

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

After looking through many websites and finding an average price of $180 (not including shipping because nobody local carried it, even places like Autozone and Napa), I was shock to see that Summit Racing had it for $140 and (of course) they had it in stock. Summit Racing is just down the road from me (which is a plus), but I think its worth the drive even for those of you who live by the lake. Plus its always fun to walk around and check out all the neat stuff they have on display.
The Optima even comes with a height adapter that you'll need to use for our box. Two adapters come with the battery (labeled A and B). A and B are combined adapters, so you'll need to remove A and install B to the bottom of the battery. Other than that, no problems and it works like a charm.

tony_673

That's a fairly attractive price, and it's good to see that they usually have it in stock. I love going to Summit too. It's totally worth the hour drive, especially when you find something sweet in the "bargain bin" section.

The only thing I don't like about Optima is that it's 11lbs. heavier than a stock battery. Now I know that's only a hundreth of a second on the quarter mile, but still, I hate adding weight to only one end of the car, let alone at all.

I like the idea of the 17lb. Braille battery, but it's only got 475 CCA, compared to the 700 something of the Optima. Also, it only has a 45min. reserve time as opposed to the Optima with double that.

I've got some thinking to do.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Instead of heading to Summit I would call Bulldog Battery over in Willoughby, I am pretty sure last time I was up there they had some on the floor. Might not be ours, but I would expect them to keep them in the back. And according to AutoZone they have red tops in Willowick. Not as good of a bargain bin as Summit...but the gas used is easier to swallow. :P

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

That might be the group 34... we require group 35. The Autozone near me had the red top, but it was group 34 and (I think) they had a 75.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Says that they have a part 35 on Vine. *shrug*

http://www.autozone.com/R,NONAPP9996...ductDetail.htm

tony_673

That's still $40 more than Summit, and Autozone certainly isn't as cool of a place to walk around in for 3 hours. I'll make up my mind eventaully.

BTW, was it you I saw driving down 306 in Mentor today at about 6:20pm? I told my wife, "My that's a fancy looking car! I'd love to have one of those!"

(It looked exactly like mine, except mine has a spoiler - which makes it much, much faster and more agile. )

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Nope...at 6PM I was at Freeway Lanes in Wickliffe. :P (And mine is Galaxy Gray w/ Spoiler, w/o it looks unfinished.)

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Just got my plates: GATORX8